**2.4. Design of the I4 production scorecard (I4-PS)**

The VDMA represents more than 3200 mostly medium-sized Companies in the capital goods industry in Germany, making it the largest Industry Association in Europe. The VDMA have produced guiding principles for the implementation of Industry 4.0 in small and medium sized businesses by utilizing *Toolbox Industry 4.0 for Production and Product* [5]. These toolboxes have valuable graphical content, but they also have an underlying process which makes them even more valuable. The Production toolbox utilizes a matrix of six functions arranged in rows and progressively more favorable status arranged in five columns. By assigning a numeric score to each column it becomes possible to create a numeric scorecard namely I4-PS Scorecard for Production. This approach also facilitates the utilization of numeric *Current* and *Target* scores to facilitate the quantification and management of improvement. A detailed analysis of the content of the I4-PS Scorecard reveals that the icons from left to right can be classified as *not connected, partially connected, fully connected, analyze & predict* and *adaptive* across each of the six functions contained in the rows. These classifications in conjunction with the scores assist the rapid formulation and communication of *The ALIZA Strategy* in a concise and accurate format.
